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[OMGAlec]

I hope this is the right forum to ask this.

What are your thoughts on more games being made with the silhouette style wherein game objects are mostly black silhouettes placed upon a more colorful backdrop?  For an example of style, look at;
Feist:

and Night Game:


Would a game made in this style feel kitschy?  The reason why I ask is because the game I'm currently working on uses this style to support the story.  The game is a 2d platformer that utilizes physics and swarm algorithms.  The story is about a man who has died and sees the afterlife as silhouettes of familiar objects but as the game progresses the world is filled more and more with abstract shapes.  Each world will be exemplified by an emotion that he feels while dealing with the fact that he is dead, i.e. confusion, anger, denial, sorrow etc. and gameplay and level design will try to express these ideas and emotions.

My reasons for using this look is two-fold; because it conveys the character's feeling of existing in a world which is but a shadow of its former self, and because it makes it easier for me to make art assets 

Would this game be seen as merely a rip-off of others before it just because of the similarity of its look?  (Being that it's a rather stark and unique look, I mean, not much you can do to differentiate it from other games with the same style since so much of it is just straight black)

Or would most players be able to look past the similarity and recognize that it is a (hopefully) unique experience in its story and gameplay?

[ChevyRay]

also comes to mind.

[OMGAlec]

Ahh yes, I can't believe I forgot about that.

I want to play that game all kinds of hard.

[robertogracia]

To answer your question..post a poll.
I would say do it!

[Problem Machine]

I think your timing is unfortunate because there are a lot of games using this style right now. Maybe you can find a way to do something similar but make it your own? Your idea seems cool to me.

[Lyx]

It may be worth mentioning that there is a very closely related style to this, which (IMO sadly) isn't that popular anymore. It comes from using a palette which is very restrictive regarding luminance levels. So, while you do in the hue and saturation dimension have a quite fine-grained coverage, you only have 3 or 4 levels of luminance for all colors (besides of black/white) (i call this "luminance-banding"). An example would be Out Of This World (caused by the rotoscoping).

Besides of obviously promoting imagination (the mind has to interpolate the missing details), it has some technical advantages: You dont need to care that much about shading-details and since the luminance-banding is systematic throughout the spectrum, you can do some interesting remapping depending on game-situations (i.e., day/night).

[William Broom]

Separate your game from the competition.

Instead of black sillhouettes, magenta.

[sereneworx]

magenta.

Genius.

[moi]

Separate your game from the competition.

Instead of black sillhouettes, magenta.

mind=blown

[Hayden Scott-Baron]

I've already stated elsewhere, but I'll say it here as well. I'm thoroughly sick of silhouette style, and I have little or no interest in and of these games. There a bunch of other ones tool.

[moi]

I think it could be very cool as a special effect for a level , but not for the whole game.

[OMGAlec]

Yea, that's what I was afraid of.  I'd want the visual style to attract attention and interest, not put people off.

I've also been playing with the idea of having a main color in each of the worlds so that not the entire game would be black silhouettes, but shapes of other colors as well.

Also, thanks for the heads up about that luminance-banding style, I'll definitely look into it and get more information.  The advantages you list serve my ideas very well, though it would be more detail than just plain silhouettes, but I think I can manage a few shades.   

[Loren Schmidt]

I agree with Kobel that the idea behind your game seems pretty appealing, it would be a shame to have it seem faddish just because of a coincidental resemblance to other games.

If your intent is to make the world feel slightly intangible or unrecognizable, perhaps there are other sorts of ways you could achieve this visually. Some kind of loose, hand sketched line drawing style (or post filter) which partially obscures objects might work, or perhaps some sort of distortion or blurring.

Also having objects be the wrong scale or placing them in unfamiliar contexts can be pretty surreal...

[Dacke]

I fail to see how it's 'worse' than, for example, all the extreme-low-res games floating around here. Feist and Night Game don't look all that similar to me, anyway. You should go with whatever artistic expression fits you best. If your game is good enough, it will live on longer than any temporary fad

[godsavant]

@ dock: I'd say I'm sick of people trying to use silhouettes to disguise their lack of art skills, but there may be a place for it somewhere.

[Hayden Scott-Baron]

Dacke, people should do what they want but they should be conscious of what they are doing and what effect it will have. When someone make a game low resolution 'retro' style they are fully aware of how this will put-off some people and appeal to others.  I think silhouette style is so striking however that it is much more pervasive than this.

@ dock: I'd say I'm sick of people trying to use silhouettes to disguise their lack of art skills, but there may be a place for it somewhere.

Most of the silhouette cases I've seen seem to have decent artwork behind it all, but I'm just tired of the aesthetic. It's sad, but because of the overused silhouette style I'm not all that interested in Night Game, despite me being a fan of Knytt and wanting to play his Wiiware title.

[OMGAlec]

It's sad, but because of the overused silhouette style I'm not all that interested in Night Game, despite me being a fan of Knytt and wanting to play his Wiiware title.

That's precisely my fears.  It just seems like such a striking aesthetic that, once used, makes it cliche and kitschy.  While I genuinely enjoy the look, I have to admit that it's attractive to use due to not having to actually be competent in lighting, having to deal with such things as shade and highlights.

Would it seem as tired if the silhouettes weren't black?  What about a vector-style look, though much much simplified.

[Hayden Scott-Baron]

Would it seem as tired if the silhouettes weren't black?  What about a vector-style look, though much much simplified.

I played a game recently with a white silhouette that was just as bad, if not worse.

You can use solids and backlit objects to give a similar impression, just try to have a bit more art direction to it rather than it being a cop-out. For example, Pixeljunk Eden has all sorts of shit going on in the background, and the players and enemies aren't all silhouette based. As a result I never think of it as being a silhouette based game.

[OMGAlec]

Oh, it's not so much necessarily a cop out in the creative sense since it just fit my needs.  It just also happens to be a plus that it's generally easier to do.  I'm totally open to other ideas though.
In terms of visual design, my roommate goes to SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design) and she's been showing interest in providing assets for my game, so they certainly won't be of horrible quality.  The main character will be rotoscoped (Me being the model) and abstract is the key element.

Take this piece as a proof of concept.  I made this when I got interested in the silhouette look a while back.

[Dacke]

Hayden, it sounds more like you have a personally dislike for it. It's just the same with low-res - some people like it and others don't.

Personally I think both low-res and silhouettes can look fantastic, if done right. And out of the half dozen silhouette based games I've seen/played (I'm not sure why you guys think there is such and abundance of them?) no one has looked alike and all have looked cool.

Mixing up silhouette elements up with different colours and layers and stuff can probably help your game stand out even more.

Additionally: That looks fantastic, OMGAlec